JOHANNESBURG - An aircraft using the call sign Sudan 1 took off from the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria at 11:46am today
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant of arrest for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was in South Africa to attend the AU Summit in Johannesburg. Bashir is accused of committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
On Sunday the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) secured an interim order to try and stop him from leaving with the ultimate aim of forcing him to stand trial.
The plane left as the High Court in Pretoria called a brief adjournment in the application for the Sudanese president to be arrested on an ICC warrant.
SALC lawyer Caroline James said South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute and its domestic laws compel the country to act against the Sudanese president.
Meanwhile UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier on Monday that the ICC’s warrant for the arrest of Bashir must be implemented by countries who have signed up to the Hague court’s statutes.
“The International Criminal Court’s warrant for the arrest of President al-Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes is a matter I take extremely seriously,” Ban Ki-moon said in Geneva.
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